Thursday, April 23, 2009

Dog People........

I just got back from a walk with the boys and the dog. We went to a small park near our house. I have to say that we are now "dog people". Its strange, we would have gone for the same walk last year and ran into the same people, but when you have a dog it's all different. They stop and talk to you, ask you about What kind is yours?", How long have you had her?, "Can I pet her?" I feel like I know all about them by the time they leave. And if they have a dog also..........its like an instant friendship. Sometimes a friendship I may not want.

Today there was a lady walking her dog in the park and after 5 minutes I know her dog is a miniature chihuahua, she works as a secretary for a law firm, her house is too small for her, she is having car trouble, she thinks the city should clean up the park, she thinks too many kids are not getting the correct supervision and that's why our country is going downhill, she has only lived in the area for a year, her dog doesn't like kids, she went to the Humane Society to pick out a dog but thought it was too sad, she had toast for breakfast and probably a few other things a tuned out as I was trying to watch Ben go down the slide my himself (which was so cute and definitely the highlight of the morning). I guess I will have to get used to all the attention we will get with such cute dog around.

Thursday, April 16, 2009

Another Girl in the family................?

That's right, I am no longer the only female in the house. After many years of waiting, (a lifetime Mat says) we have added a pet to the family. Her name is Aussie, a mini Australian shepherd about 6 months old.

The rest of the clan has wanted a dog for years and years, but I have held out. Don't get me wrong, I love dogs, I grew up with dogs, my parents have always had dogs and I have always wanted to get one for the boys. It was a matter of timing. I always said when we (as in me) were done having babies we would get a dog.

We told the boys we were going for a ride and drove to the Humane Society. Needless to say, they were beyond excited. I made sure before we left the car to go in that we would under no circumstances be getting a puppy or any dog with long hair (look at the pictures to see we got a long haired puppy). We didn't get one that day, as only 3 small dogs were there that day. We continued to look online everyday. One day there happened to be many small dogs available so we went to check them out. We took many dogs out to see if they were the best fit for us, and it was beginning to look like we would be leaving again without a dog. That is when one of the workers put HER in a cage. I thought she was cute, but was not thinking anything of it as I had made things clear that we would not be getting a long haired dog or a puppy. At this point, Mat was begging me to just let her out for a minute to show Brett who was in the other room. I was holding firm, when Drew looked at me with his big blues (tear filled no less), and said "Mom it's not just about you." So that broke my heart and I agreed to give the pup a chance. We walked out with her and Brett just looked straight at me and said "DUDE", at which point I knew we would be taking this long haired puppy home.

I have to say it has been wonderful. She has had only a few accidents in the house. She is very smart and has already learned, sit, stay, spin, and scratches at the sliding glass door when she needs to do her business. The boys love her and have been very helpful with feeding and cleaning up poop in the yard. The day after we had her home, Brett must have called from work 10-15 times to check up on me. Many more times than he called after the birth of the boys. All I can say is that he must trust my mothering skills a lot more than my pet skills. Anyway I think this little dog was meant to be a part of our clan.